


Those Who Came Before

by Origamidragons



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Everyone is Force ghosts, Everything hurts slightly less, Gen, Kinda?, POV Luke Skywalker, POV Outsider, Takes place during the original trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10021589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origamidragons/pseuds/Origamidragons
Summary: Four times Luke Skywalker meets the dead, and manages not to notice.Or: as it turns out, all it takes to become a Force ghost is a connection to the Force and a lot of fucking determination. And, as everyone knows, kyber crystals are excellent Force conductors.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have a long chapter story that I should be working on and that I haven't updated since summer, and yet. 
> 
> Have this trash. 
> 
> Based on [this prompt](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6629992/chapters/21200174) from Meadowstar Concepts by the fabulous Kesomon.

"Are you alright?" someone asks, and Luke's head jerks up in surprise. He hadn't heard anyone approach- he could've sworn he was alone in this hallway, half collapsed against the wall and his hair slicked against his forehead with sweat. 

The speaker is a middle-aged man with a gentle, almost fatherly look of encouragement and worry on his face, wearing a grey and black jumpsuit. Luke offers a nervous half-smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. 

"Fine," he says, before sucking in another shaky lungful. "Just... a little scared." 

Something lights up behind the man's eyes for a moment. "Ah, you're one of the pilots going to attack the Death Star!" 

"Um... yeah?" Luke confirms sheepishly. "I'm Luke Skywalker." 

"Galen Erso," the man replies, a proud smile still etched across his features. Luke can't quite shake the feeling that it isn't intended for him. "Good luck, Luke Skywalker. Destroy that monstrosity. Save the galaxy." 

With that, the man turns and walks away, vanishing into the shadows at the end of the hallway before Luke can get another word in edgewise. 

~o~ 

Every time he meets the two soldiers, they're together, fingers loosely entangled as they walk the halls or leaning against each other when they lounge on a bench and watch the Rebellion move by. There's a closeness between them that Luke's never seen anywhere else, a camaraderie deeper than friendship or love.

The first time, it's right after he blows up the Death Star, and the cheering is still ringing in his ears when a woman and a man, with gaunt faces and dirty clothes and grins so wide it looks like their faces might split in half, walk up to him. The woman ruffles his hair, lightly enough that it almost feels like a breeze. 

"Good job, kid," she says. The man doesn't say anything, just stands with an arm around her shoulders, but he almost looks like he's about to cry. 

"We did it," he hears her say as they walk away, and it sounds like she's close to tears as well. "We really did it." 

~o~ 

"You're trying too hard," someone says from behind him, and Luke startles so badly that he loses his concentration completely. The pebble comes clattering to the ground from the few centimeters in the air he'd managed, and he can't help but feel annoyed. 

The owner of the other voice sits down beside him, legs crossed, and lays a wooden staff across his lap. His eyes are the milky white of the blind, and his skin is dark. He gives Luke a smile as if he knows exactly where to look. 

"What?" 

"You're trying too hard," the man repeats in the same calm tone of voice, and Luke's nerves prickle with irritation. 

"What do you mean?" he snaps in annoyance, but the blind man seems unfazed. 

"Close your eyes," the man instructs, and Luke isn't entirely sure why he obeys. This man seems to exude quiet authority, though, and he seems to know what he's talking about. 

He closes his eyes. 

"The Force runs through all things," the man says, his voice steady and deliberate like he's telling a story he's told a thousand times before. "Even things that aren't alive, like that pebble, have the life of the Force in them. You are trying to order the Force to move the pebble. You don't have to. You are trying to use it as a tool, and not as an extension of yourself." 

"Breathe," he says, and Luke does, eyes still lightly closed. "Think about the Force. It flows through all living things and so it flows through you, too. You are the Force and the Force is you." 

And then he can see them, the man sitting next to him and the bigger man standing against the back wall, silent, and the floor and the ceiling and the walls and the solitary pebble sitting in the middle of the room. 

Then there's a clatter, and Luke's eyes snap open to see the pebble pinned to the ceiling. The man claps his shoulder and chuckles, a low, friendly sound. 

"See? Well done." 

"Are you a Jedi?" Luke blurts, eyes wide, but the man just shakes his head. 

"No, just an old dreamer," the man says with a smile, and the large man behind him laughs like thunder, and then they're gone. 

~o~

The small, grubby pilot is Luke's favorite. He says his name is Bodhi, and he's from a desert planet too, and he always wanted to see the stars. He says he used to be an Imperial pilot, but a good man got him to defect. 

"No, the X-wing is a great ship, but it just can't hold up to blasts as well as an A-wing!" Bodhi is saying as they walk down the hall. He moves his hands a lot when he talks, and sometimes stumbles like he's looking for a word that he can't find. 

"But the A-wing has none of the maneuverability! Having better shields won't help at all if it's taking hits from the whole Imperial fleet." 

"True," Bodhi concedes before lighting up again. "Hey, think you can ask your smuggler friend if I can take a look at that old Corellian freighter?" 

"Han?" Luke shakes his head. "I can ask, but I'm pretty sure he won't let anyone touch the Falcon." 

"It's gorgeous," Bodhi enthuses, and Luke grins in spite of himself. 

"Maybe he'd make an exception for you, though," he says, because he's almost certain that Han would love to meet possibly the only person in the galaxy who appreciates the Falcon as much as he does. 

They turn a corner and there's Han and Leia, snapping at each other like they've been making a habit of lately, but it's apparently over nothing important because they both manage to tear themselves away to glance at Luke. He grins and waves. 

"Hey guys!" Luke calls, crossing the rest of the way over to them with Bodhi on his heels. 

"Hey, kid," Han says, and Leia waves. 

"Han, my friend Bodhi here wanted to know if you'd let him take a look at the Falcon," he says, gesturing to the shorter man at his side, and strange expressions cross both of his friends' faces. Han just looks confused, but there's a flash of startled recognition on Leia's face. 

"Luke, buddy, there's no one there," Han says, a distinct note of gruff worry entering his voice. Luke looks questioningly over to Bodhi, who just gives a sad smile... 

...and then fades away, like he was never there. 

"Luke," Leia says gently, "have I ever told you about the crew of Rogue One?"


End file.
